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Ramboll results show strong UK growth despite Brexit uncertainty

In its annual results, released today, Ramboll has reported their highest ever revenue globally and a strong order book for 2019, while in the UK they achieved one of their best set of results to date, despite broader Brexit uncertainty.

Ramboll UK achieved 19% organic growth with gross revenue rising to £125m, one of its best years ever. This follows the securing of a number of key contracts in 2018, including the contract for the Highways England regional delivery partnership framework.

Ramboll’s annual revenue globally reached a record high of £1.3bn, compared to £1.25bn in 2017, with organic growth rising to 7% from 2.8% in 2017. Additionally, Ramboll’s order book has also developed positively, currently standing at £849m, an increase of 31% compared to the end of 2017.

Ramboll also reached a strategic milestone in 2018 with the acquisition of the US consultancy O’Brien and Gere Limited (OBG) adding 900 experts to the company. Globally, about 2,000 new staff joined the company including OBG, and Ramboll now has more than 15,000 employees.

“For Ramboll, 2018 was overall a year with a good strategic development,” said group CEO Jens-Peter Saul. “We delivered a strong organic revenue growth of 7% which is above our industry. The solid growth reflects strong performances in the US, UK, Norway, Finland and the Middle East and Asia in particular. We are especially pleased to have achieved a successful turnaround in the UK, where we had one of our best years with 19% growth despite the uncertainty surrounding Brexit,” he says.

“However, what we achieved in terms of growth we didn’t quite manage in terms of profit which was below our expectations due to a slowdown in our traditionally strong performing business units such as Sweden, Denmark and our international business unit for energy. In 2018 we also doubled the investment in digitalisation and innovation to support our strategic ambition to be a digital leader in our industry – and naturally this also affects our profit,” he said.

“Looking ahead, our key focus areas in 2019 are to continue the positive growth curve and improve our operational performance across the businesses to better convert growth into profit. We will also continue to invest heavily in implementing our digital and innovation strategy, and we will focus efforts on Germany where we see a large potential for growth,” said Jens-Peter Saul.

The acquisition of the US engineering and design consultancy OBG saw 900 new staff in the water, energy and environment sector joining the company. The acquisition represents a major step forward in the US, which has been a strategic priority since the successful acquisition of ENVIRON in 2015.

Commenting on Ramboll’s growth in the UK, Mathew Riley, UK managing director, said: “To achieve 19% organic growth in difficult market conditions reflects the tremendous effort from everyone across our business. It is also a testament to our continued focus on clients, investment into our people and the innovations that we see as the game changers in our industry”.